Many people have all different ideas of what Yoga is, and many of these are far from what it really is... Some believe its a sort of a religion, others think its a very dangerous fitness method, they believe that one is made to knot the body into all sorts of different weird postures....And automatically the mind says "I cant do that... I'm not all that flexible… I'm going to have an injury and harm myself..." I was also one of these people who heard a lot of weird stories about what Yoga is, and that fear stopped me for many years to experience it, mainly out of fear of an injury.

On the one hand I missed a lot , and on the other I was very careful not to go and do Yoga with just anyone who claimed to teach me yoga. I was lucky to start with a qualified Yoga Teacher and then I was lucky to meet very important Yoga teachers, very well known who have helped me with my studies on this subject and taught me a lot.

Yoga means Unity. The unity, of body, mind and spirit. Yoga unites and aligns all our bodies, the physical, the emotional, and the mental. In order to be able to have better health, peace and ranquillity, positive thinking and a steady mind. It gives as a lot of energy, inner strength and more self acceptance.

Through Yoga we learn to come into contact with our real selves, by introspection and turning inwards. We realise how much we have taken ourselves for granted and how desperately the body is trying to tell us many things about its condition and needs, but we do not listen, we are not in a position to listen. Nobody has taught us the way to listen...

We have so far taken our physical bodies for granted. We did not think too much about its needs and its limitations. We only dumped all sorts of junk as food, drink, smoking etc, and have exhausted it with endless work, poor sleeping habits, and exposure in polluted and foul atmosphere. We never considered how tired the body was, or how weak it felt, we were more interested in fulfilling our obligations, and desires, busy holding fast to the image we created and we need so much to maintain. And one day the body develops an illness and we ask ourselves, "Why me? What did I do wrong?" "I was a good person , I loved people I helped others etc. etc" Yes, I agree, BUT you did not love yourself enough , your own physical body enough. Now if it is ill, and unable to fulfil your desires and needs you will turn around and REALIZE it exists.

And for the Natural Health methods, when there is pain its a good sign, It means that the body is fighting. And from then on we start to step in. [Of course it would be better if we stepped in long before, as a preventative procedure, but its better late than never.]

Yoga works in a holistic way, it deals with physical exercises, relaxation, breathing techniques, meditation , proper diet, and cleansing detoxification techniques.

a. Yoga Exercises: are slow, gentle ,simple postures mainly, tailored out to fit the specific needs of the individual, in the case especially of Yoga therapy, And one is encouraged to respect his/her limits, without trying to exert oneself, also not to try to execute the Asanas perfectly from the beginning .On the contrary , instead of trying he is encouraged to give up trying to relax and let go. And with wareness of body and awareness of breath the asana become perfect at some time. With the Yoga asanas, we remove energy blockages, physical, mental, and emotional, we boost the immune system, the endocrine, the nervous, the circulatory system, the sympathetic and parasympathetic systems, as well as lubricating all the joints, and regenerating all the organs and glands.

b. Breathing techniques are our key to emotional balance, and positive thinking. They help balance the energies which circulate inside the physical body, and calm the mind. Breathing is a valuable tool towards better health, vitality, positive thinking and a peaceful emotional state. Most of us breathe incorrectly, using only a small part of our lung capacity . Our breathing is shallow and the result is that our body and brain are starved, which is completely unnecessary considering the plentiful supply of oxygen in the air all about us. The brain has ten compartments, but in our present stage of evolution we are only able to utilise only one of these.

At the base of the brain is the structure called the reticular activating system[RAS] . It is from the RAS that energy rises upwards and awakens functions in other parts of the brain. Above this is the medulla which contains the respiratory centres and the limbic systems and the hypothalamus gland, which control fear, rage, blood pressure, hunger, satiety, weight control, pleasure , sexuality and other functions, including the pituitary gland and the autonomic nervous system. It is in the base of the brain that the structure which control respiration exist and it is this part of the brain that we are able to influence by working with these techniques. Of all the unconscious automatic and autonomic nervous system processes in the body, the only one that can be consciously controlled is breathing.So breath is said to be a doorway to controlling all the other internal processes of the body, such as heart, digestion, blood pressure, excretion and absorption. There are four stages in breathing, breathing in, and breathing out which brings balance , holding the breath inside , which gives us more energy, and also heat, and the pause, which silences the mind.

Normal breath = br. In + br.out.
Triangular breath = br. In+hold+br.Out
Square breathing = br. In+hold+br.out+pause

c. Relaxation allows a total and deeper state of energy circulation. The body being in the alpha state, balances the whole system and regenerates both body and mind. It has a valuable effect on our breathing and thus develops situations such as the above, because the breathing becomes calmer, deeper, more relaxed and is able to affect the whole system in a beneficial way. There are different methods of relaxation , starting from very simple ones to visualisations, healing relaxations, positive thought projections, for self-acceptance, elimination of fears, changing the experience... etc.

d. Meditation, is the focusing on a specific point of concentration, and this is a very powerful tool to release the different layers of the mind from stress, fear, and negative thoughts. It uses all the above benefits, as the body relaxes completely in this state, the breath stabilises and becomes deeper and more relaxed, and is also a very powerful tool to reduce high blood pressure, and very beneficial for heart problems.

e. Diet Yoga also means healthy diet. Although it is not a compulsory issue when one takes up Yoga exercises, if one continues for a while the body by itself will refuse to eat food that is not in harmony with the system, one will be in a position to understand the signs of disgust that the physical body will be transmitting. We are mainly interested in eating fresh live vegetables and fruit, grains, and pulses.

f. Cleansing and Detoxifying techniques start from simple ones like an enema, or a cleansing of the nostrils, mouth, and throat, simple stomach washes, and the whole system cleansing technique called Shankaprakshalan, which cleanses the whole digestive system, from the mouth to the anus. Detoxifying and relieving the system from too much toxicity either from wrong eating habits, or from medicine , or from toxins in general. Every one benefits from such a cleansing procedure as the whole system is renewed and full of energy after each cleansing session.